Effect of industrial wastes on the properties of sustainable ultra-high-performance concrete: Ganite, ceramic, and glass

Abstract

The creation of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) requires a huge amount of cement. However, the production of cement raises environmental concerns related to non-renewable resources, carbon dioxide emissions, and global warming. To overcome these issues, it was necessary to expand the production of eco-friendly, sustainable ultra-high-performance concrete (SUHPC) by applying procedures to minimize cement use. This research was able to produce SUHPC with compressive strengths ranging from 168 to 233 MPa at 91 d under standard curing by employing industrial wastes such as granite dust, ceramic powder, and glass powder as a partial replacement of cement by about 26% of its weight, in addition to using crushed granite, ceramic, and glass as a 50% and 100% by volume substitute for sand within the concrete mixture. The influence of these industrial wastes on the mechanical and physical characteristics of SUHPC was investigated. Additionally, the temperature studies on the SUHPC containing industrial wastes and the analysis of the microstructure were presented. The study revealed that replacing some of the cement with granite powder and all of the sand with crushed granite in the SUHPC mixture led to the highest compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, and modulus of elasticity. Specifically, the mixture achieved 196.7 MPa compressive strength, 21.9 MPa splitting tensile strength, 30.3 MPa flexural strength, and 61,010 MPa modulus of elasticity after 28 d. Furthermore, the replacement significantly improved the SUHPC's physical properties. For instance, it reduced water permeability by 18.83%. However, adding glass to the SUHPC mixture negatively impacted both its mechanical and physical characteristics.